


Tsukishima Kei: Templar

by CloudMonsta



Series: Vball Babs: Origins [2]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins, Haikyuu!!
Genre: Flashbacks, Gen, Mages and Templars, Origin Story, Templars, the whole thing is kinda flashback heh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-10
Updated: 2016-03-09
Packaged: 2018-05-25 20:38:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6209233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloudMonsta/pseuds/CloudMonsta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tsukishima Kei is a templar, but he wasn't always one. Mostly, he just hopes he can manage to be one of the "good" templars.</p><p>And if he ends up helping save the world while he's at it… well, he guesses that's alright. If he must.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tsukishima Kei: Templar

**Author's Note:**

> Though the first chapter can be read as a stand-alone, any subsequent chapters (which will be added as "unlocked" in the main fic) probably won't make sense without Dawn Will Come, the main storyline.

Tsukishima Kei had a good childhood. He never knew his parents, but the village of Redcliffe wasn't one to leave a kid wanting: there was Takeda, the young man who was a shoo-in to be the next mayor, and Ser Ukai, the young leader of the Arl's knights. Between those two adults, orphans in the village never wanted for safety, a bit of food to eat, or a place to sleep for the night.

Tsukishima spent most of his childhood days hanging around Ser Ukai, who he thought had the coolest job ever. Ever since he had been able to toddle after Ser Ukai, he'd done his best to keep up. It took a few years before he was able to match his short pace to Ser Ukai's long stride, but he learned to manage it.

His nights were spent in the chantry, where there was always a bed for those who wanted it, and he was welcome as long as he liked. If he helped contribute to the daily chores, of course.

Sure, Tsukishima had never known his parents, and he didn't really get along with any of the other orphans. Tsukishima had been left in the chantry when he was a newborn, and the only thing he knew about his parents was that his mother had died during his birth. The other children liked to play out fantasies about grandiose parents looking for their long-lost children, but Tsukishima thought that was stupid. Why wait for something you knew was never going to happen? Might as well enjoy what you already had, instead. Though it didn't exactly make Tsukishima any friends, he figured he already had all he wanted: a friendly caretaker in Takeda, and a brilliant hero to chase after in Ser Ukai. A warm bed in the chantry, and the entire village to roam for adventure. Tsukishima was rather pleased with his life.

…

Tsukishima met his best friend when he was about eight. He'd been shooting up like a weed, so his pants were a good three inches too short. He paused to scratch at his ankles before he ran through the grass, heading towards where Ser Ukai was bound to be on post. He loved to try to sneak up and startle the knight.

He hadn't succeeded yet, but that wouldn't stop him from trying.

He had just gotten into a crouch when he heard the sounds of some of the other kids from the village, and decided to sneak toward the taunting voices instead.

"You look like you've got dirt all over your face! It's gross!" Tsukishima recognized that voice. That was Creighton, one of crusty old Lloyd's sons, and he frequently picked on the chantry kids. Luckily, he left Tsukishima alone, since Creighton could never get a rise out of him. Tsukishima just didn't care and ignored the angry boy whenever he tried to provoke him. The one time Tsukishima had actually gotten annoyed enough to say something, he made a snide comment about the boy's name being a bad misspelling of cretin, and had gotten an earful from Takeda that night. It was easier to just ignore Creighton and his cronies.

"I-it's not dirt…," a quiet, broken voice sniffled. "They're fr-freckles."

Tsukishima didn't recognize this kid's voice. He thought he knew all the kids in the village – it wasn't exactly a _big_ village, and since he'd grown up there, he knew all the secret little nooks and crannies pretty well. He crawled forward through the grass, and quietly made his way toward a couple of old, broken boxes. When he reached them, he peeked over the edge to take in what was happening.

There were four kids, one of them being Creighton. He and two others stood around, looming over the last child, a scrawny boy with spots spattered all over his skin. It kind of did look like he'd been splashed by a mud puddle.

"I bet he smells, too," one of the others said, a girl who had gapped front teeth and choppy blonde hair. That was Petrice, one of the orphans who lived at the chantry. Nobody messed with her. She was a biter. She and Tsukishima had a healthy respect for each other… meaning they didn't ever spend time in the same area, whenever possible. Petrice sneered at the kid on the ground, crinkling up her nose as if she smelled something she didn't like. "Peee-ew!"

"You think if we tried with something sharp, we could scrape the spots off?" The last bully wondered, idly scratching at his chin. That was Casey, and he was the most annoying of the bunch, Tsukishima thought. Casey wasn't big, or strong, or scary really, but he hung around with Creighton and Petrice so none of the other kids could gang up on him. He often said cruel, violent things, and Tsukishima had no doubt he wouldn't hesitate to kill one of the stray cats that wandered along the roofs of the village if he got a good enough shot. (It was a good thing, Tsukishima figured, that he had a lousy arm.)

"P-pl-please don't," the scrawny kid begged, and he looked like he was about to cry. "They would-wouldn't come off, I pr-promise." He sniffed loudly, and Tsukishima shuddered as he heard the gross squelch of snot being sucked up his nose. Disgusting.

"Well _I_ think we should give it a try!" Petrice crowed, looming in closer on the kid, while Creighton looked around for something to do it with.

Knowing these three, they really _would_ go through with it, and Tsukishima decided that he wasn't going to let that happen. When Creighton walked up towards the boxes, probably to rip off an old piece of wood from one of them, Tsukishima stood up and gave him his best glare.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he growled, keeping his gaze narrowed in on Creighton like he could see right through him. He'd learned a while back that if you towered over someone, you had power, and if you acted like you knew what you were doing, you usually got left alone.

So he used his full 130cm to the best of his ability, and tried not to think about his too-short pants and itchy ankles while he stared at Creighton. Creighton's forehead came up to about Tsukishima's nose, so he had to look down a bit. He liked to think that helped.

Creighton jumped when he saw Tsukishima pop up out of seemingly nowhere, and held his own for a few moments, staring back, but that didn't last long. A few moments of Tsukishima's silent disapproval, and Creighton backed up a step with a scowl.

"I never wanted to see it anyway, I bet he'd smell even worse," he huffed, sticking his tongue out with a grimace.

Once Creighton broke the staring contest, Tsukishima shifted his gave over to where Petrice and Casey were watching apprehensively. He keep his gaze level, cool, and didn't say anything as he stared at the two of them.

One by one, both of them broke his gaze as well, and Petrice shoved at Casey's shoulder to get him moving. "C'mon Casey, let's go back to the hideout."

"Pathetic," Tsukishima muttered as the three bullies scampered away. Once they were out of sight, he turned around to the freckled boy who was, it seemed, sitting in a mud puddle. Huh. Maybe some of those spots _were_ just dirt. Tsukishima helped the kid get up, and watched as he scrubbed a wrist underneath his running nose. Gross.

The kid was short, but looked like he was around Tsukishima's age, or maybe a year younger. Tsukishima had hit his growth spurt early, and figured the other boy would hit his own soon enough.

It made Tsukishima feel like he was towering over him, like the bullies had earlier. He didn't like the thought of that, so he slouched, rounding his shoulders, and tried not to seem as threatening. "C'mon, let's get you to Takeda. He'll clean you up."

"…thanks," he mumbled, finally looking up to meet Tsukishima's gaze. "I'm Yamaguchi," he added, blinking his large eyes up at him. Tsukishima didn't think he'd never seen such an earnest gaze. It kind of unnerved him.

"Tsukishima," he responded gruffly, and started walking back towards the chantry. He didn't check to see if Yamaguchi followed him or not – that wasn't his problem.

"Tsu- Tsu…ki… shi-…. Tsukki… Is it alright if I call you Tsukki?"

"No. It's Tsuki _shima_."

…

Though Yamaguchi never did learn to call Tsukishima by his proper name, Tsukishima found he didn't really mind being known as "Tsukki." At least, not by Yamaguchi. He quickly glared anyone else into submission if they tried adopting the nickname.

Yamaguchi had apparently been traveling with his caretaker, and they had stopped to resupply at the village. When Yamaguchi's caretaker had stepped aside, telling him that he'd be back soon and to wait for him at the chantry, Yamaguchi hadn't questioned it.

Tsukishima thought it sounded sketchy from the very beginning.

Naturally, the guy hadn't returned the next day, or the day after that, and Yamaguchi had been spending the night in the tall grass between the buildings, because he had been too nervous to go ask for help at the chantry. Tsukishima thought that was pretty stupid, since Takeda was basically the _most_ approachable adult in the history of adults.

It was Tsukishima's personal opinion that Takeda didn't have a mean bone in his body.

As it turned out, the spots on Yamaguchi's face _were_ freckles, or at least, most of them were. When Tsukishima had dragged Yamaguchi back to Takeda, he had made them both take baths (and chided Tsukishima for walking through the grass again, because he _knew_ that was why Tsukishima was itching) and then explained how the chantry worked with the orphans at Redcliffe village.

Yamaguchi was still pretty shy at first, but didn't take long to adjust to his new home. There had been a pallet open next to where Tsukishima slept, and Yamaguchi had quickly adopted it as his own.

It didn't take long for the two boys to quickly become friends, despite their opposite personalities.

…

"Tsu _kki_ , wait _up!_ " Tsukishima heard Yamaguchi shouting after him, and slowed his pace from a sprint to a gentle jog, waiting for his friend to catch up. Yamaguchi had just hit his growth spurt, but Tsukishima had hit another one too, so though they were both taller (and Yamaguchi had considerably longer legs than before), Yamaguchi was still shorter than him.

"What took you so long?" He asked as he saw, out of the corner of his eye, a bright smile and freckled face pop into view.

"Takeda was showing me how to make my first healing salve! My hands feel kinda tingly, though," Yamaguchi said, looking down and wiggling his fingers. "Wanna smell?"

Before Tsukishima could vehemently declare that _no_ , he most definitely did _not_ want to smell Yamaguchi's stinky hands, a brown hand was shoved in his face and he stumbled into it out of surprise. "Ugh, Yamaguchi, stop it!" He yelled, and tried to stifle his laughter as he swatted at his friend's hand.

"Smell it, Tsukki! They smell weird!" Yamaguchi shouted back, laughing as he kept trying to shove his hands against Tsukishima's face.

When they started to fall over, and one of Yamaguchi's fingers ended up Tsukishima's nose with an unfortunate snort, he finally gave in and gave the freckled fingers a sniff, against his better judgement. "Huh," he said in surprise, after Yamaguchi had extracted his finger and wiped it on his pants, "smells like mint."

"Yeah, Takeda says that the mint helps with like. Rashes and stuff," Yamaguchi said, shrugging. "Bet my hands will smell like it all day, though. Do you think it'll be a problem…?"

Tsukishima snorted at Yamaguchi's worried face, and shook his head. "Nah, Ser Ukai won't care. I think we're helping him bring the oil to the inn today, though. So maybe you'll end up smelling like a seasoned Yamaguchi dinner by the time the day is through."

"Eugh Tsukki, gross!" Yamaguchi laughed, and bumped his shoulder against Tsukishima's. "You're disgusting."

"No more than you are," Tsukishima shrugged.

"I'm not disgusting!" Yamaguchi yelped, pressing a hand to his chest and fake-gasping in shock.

"Your hand. Was up. My nose," Tsukishima said in a deadpan, raising one eyebrow as he looked at his best friend.

"Eh, good point," Yamaguchi allowed with a shrug. "Hey, wanna race up to the windmill?"

"Last one there's a minty sleepyhead!"

…

They spent a few years like that, running around Redcliffe village, doing errands and generally causing a little bit of mayhem. But mostly running errands and "helping" the knights who stood watch at the windmill. And racing down the hill into the village to see who was the fastest. And crashing into Takeda more often than not. And getting told off, and having to do extra chores around the chantry.

…ok, so maybe they got into trouble more often than not.

But they had been pretty good when Yamaguchi started acting weird. He was jumpy when Tsukishima didn't even mean to sneak up on him, and he was weirdly avoidant, sometimes spending whole days roaming around on his own instead of meeting Tsukishima up at the windmill.

Tsukishima figured Yamaguchi would come to him to talk when he was ready, and didn't worry about it too much. So he wasn't surprised at all when Yamaguchi trudged over, halfway through the day, and sat down on the hay bale next to him.

Tsukishima had been lounging around in the shade cast by the windmill, and looked up lazily when Yamaguchi let out a great sigh. Tsukishima simply settled back more comfortably.

"Tsukki," Yamaguchi finally spoke up, "I feel… weird."

"If you're going to puke, do it in the weeds," Tsukishima mumbled, not shifting in the slightest.

"Not like that! It's a… different weird."

"Huh?" Tsukishima furrowed his brow, confused for a minute, and then snorted a laugh out his nose as he realized. "Ah. Yamaguchi, it's normal to grow hair there. Go ask Takeda, he'll explain it all to you. Don't ask Ukai though," he frowned, "because he just turns red and splutters for a few minutes. Bad decision."

"Not like _that_ either, Tsukki!" Yamaguchi responded with a gentle smack to Tsukishima's shoulder, before he paused with a grin. Tsukishima didn't even have to open his eyes to see it. He could _hear_ the grin in his voice. "Did you ask Ser Ukai for the puberty talk, Tsukki?"

Tsukishima started to turn red, and peeked at Yamaguchi with a frown. "Shut up."

"That's not a denial," Yamaguchi said, and maker damn it all he _was_ grinning, looking like the cat that had scratched Casey after he'd tried to kick it: extremely satisfied with himself.

Tsukishima felt his ears heat up, and knew if he didn't act fast he'd turn completely red. He swung his legs down, smacking against the hay as he sat up quickly, and blinked away the dizziness at the sudden change. "I will put you in a headlock I swear to the maker."

"Okay, okay! I'll stop," Yamaguchi smiled, holding his hands up in defense. Tsukishima relaxed his glare, and narrowed his eyes as he watched Yamaguchi's smile drop. "I wasn't kidding, though. About feeling weird."

Tsukishima put his hands on the edge of the hay and leaned forward, swinging his legs, for lack of something else to do. He looked out at the knights and watched them while he tried to come up with a proper answer. "Well, I wasn't kidding about talking to Takeda, either," he finally decided on, not looking at Yamaguchi. "Even if it's not puberty, he's pretty good at knowing what to say." _Better than me_ , he didn't add, and pressed his fingers against the spikey edges of the hay.

"Hm… alright. Maybe I will go talk to him… later, though," Yamaguchi hummed, nodding. Tsukishima hadn't been prepared at all for Yamaguchi to launch himself at his sides, though, and was taken surprise by the wrestling attack.

Sitting triumphantly on top of his friend, Yamaguchi grinned. "Now, did you _really_ ask _Ser Ukai_ for the puberty talk? He may know his weapons, but he can barely even _look_ at Takeda without turning red! He is so _clearly_ not the one to ask about that, Tsukki."

Tsukishima just groaned and rolled his eyes back as far as they would go. It was going to be a long day.

…

Tsukishima didn't think much of it when, a week later, Yamaguchi hadn't joined him up by the windmill with Ser Ukai. Lately, Yamaguchi had been spending more time with Takeda anyway, so it wasn't really that strange.

Ukai had been letting him play around with his spyglass when Tsukishima first spotted them. "Hey, Ukai," he called over, "what kinda knights have a leaf an' sword insignia?"

"Leaf and sword?" Ser Ukai asked, his brow furrowing in confusion. "Here, lemme see." He held his hand out for the spyglass, and Tsukishima handed it over easily.

Ukai brushed his dirty blond hair out of his face, and placed the spyglass up against his eye.

"Over there, up by the bridge," Tsukishima said, and pointed even though he knew Ukai wouldn't see.

"Oh," Ukai said as he honed in on the right spot, and saw a group of four armored men. "Those aren't knights, they're templars. Heh, leaf and sword insignia," he snorted to himself.

"Templars?" Tsukishima asked curiously, and thanked Ukai as he passed the spyglass back to Tsukishima. Peering through the lens at the soon approaching men, he asked, "They're like Circle knights, right?"

"Something like that," Ukai said, looking up at the bridge. "They're kind of like the Circle's knights, and they get special training so they can protect mages, and people from mages."

"Why do people have to be protected from mages? Aren't the mages at the Circle good?" Tsukishima was full of questions today, but Ukai didn't seem to mind.

"Well, sure, but they aren't the only mages. And mages can be dangerous, too – that's why we've got the Circles," Ukai explained, leaning looking back towards the village that lay below them. "We should probably head back now."

"Alright," Tsukishima agreed, and passed Ukai the spyglass back so he could tuck it away in its pouch. As they began the short walk back towards the village, he asked one more question. "Why are they here in Redcliffe, though?"

Ukai simply shrugged. "Dunno, little man."

…

When he returned to the chantry and went to bed that night, he didn't see Yamaguchi in his pallet. He didn't think much of it, though, and figured Yamaguchi had just stepped out to take a piss. He put it out of his mind, rolled over, and went to sleep.

…

It was only when he didn't see any sign of Yamaguchi the next morning that he started to worry. He found where Takeda had been chopping wood just outside in the courtyard, and plopped on the short rock wall next to him. For such a small man, Takeda had some surprisingly strong arms, easily swinging the axe down to split the wood in two. Patiently, Tsukishima waited for Takeda to take a break before he asked his question.

"Hey, Takeda… do you know where Yamaguchi is? I haven't seen him all day." He had been idly swinging his legs against the wall, hitting his ankles against the rocks with little _thumps_ , but he stopped when he saw Takeda's face.

"Uhhh… how do I explain this…?" Takeda had frozen, and then did that awkward little laugh he did whenever he was nervous, or didn't know what to say, and scratched at the back of his neck. Tsukishima had seen him do that same laugh every time Takeda was around Ser Ukai, though it was usually accompanied with the tips of his ears turning red.

Tsukishima didn't press Takeda, but he did feel the worry from that morning curdle in his gut like he'd had some bad milk.

"Uh, you see," Takeda began once he'd walked over and sat next to Tsukishima, "Yamaguchi had… well, he'd shown signs of having magic. And that's perfectly fine!" He added quickly, and thrust his arms out in front of him like he'd just said the wrong thing. "But he had to go to the Circle, so he can be taught how to handle having magic safely. He could get badly hurt, or hurt someone else, or turn into an abomination if he didn't. Oh! But he did! So he won't turn into an abomination, for sure!!"

Tsukishima kept his face carefully blank. He had no idea what to say. Why couldn't Yamaguchi have told him what he was worried about? He should have pressed harder. Or even just asked. Instead of just shifting his friend's worries onto an adult. He felt like kicking himself in the shins for inadvertently pushing Yamaguchi away. He was a terrible friend.

He still didn't know how to put his thoughts into words, but he knew he didn't want to keep looking at Takeda's face, so he focused his gaze down at his feet. He didn't like it when others looked at him with… pity? Sadness? He wasn't really sure what it was, but it made him want to sneer and push the person away. And after all Takeda had done for him… he didn't want to be rude to the man. Even if he felt as if the adult had personally betrayed not only him, but Yamaguchi as well.

Tsukishima had heard the horror stories about abominations. Being told as an afterthought that "Yamaguchi definitely wouldn't" turn into one if he went to the Circle wasn't very reassuring.

Takeda seemed like he was waiting for Tsukishima to say something, so he forced the only thing he could think of out of his mouth, and tried to keep his face from looking as empty as he felt.

"Oh. Okay. Thanks, I guess."

With that, he hopped down off the wall, and ran off towards Lloyd's tavern, fully set on burying himself amongst the tall, weedy grasses that were in the valley where the old, half-built boat sat. Nothing had been done to that boat in years, and he knew no one would bother him there. He just… wanted to be alone for a bit.

And he definitely _wasn't_ crying. Any potential tears on his face were 100% because he was allergic to grass, and nothing else.

Nevermind the fact that grass had only made him itchy, and never gave him watery eyes.

This explained why Yamaguchi had been worried, Tsukishima thought bitterly, biting back a sob. And why Yamaguchi had been feeling weird lately. Tsukishima scrubbed at the tears on his face angrily.

He'd always defend Yamaguchi from the other kids for being a scared-cat. Now he really knew how much of a scared-cat Yamaguchi really was – he hadn't even taken the time to say goodbye to him. Didn't even tell him he was going to be leaving. Just… went. Without any warning.

To be honest, Tsukishima was kind of pissed at him for that.

Takeda had said that this was for everyone's good, that it would keep Yamaguchi safe… but knowing that didn't really make Tsukishima feel any better. Just kind of hollow. He wished he hadn't told Yamaguchi to talk to Takeda, had asked more about what was wrong, had done something more. He didn't know what, but there must have been _something_.

It might be for everyone's safety, but Tsukishima was still going to miss his best friend.

…

A few years passed before Tsukishima saw templars again. In the meantime, he asked Ser Ukai and the now-Mayor Takeda incessant questions about them. Even if he was a bit more distant with Takeda than he had been before… it might have all been for the best, but that didn't mean Tsukishima had to forgive him for taking away his best friend with no warning.

"What do templars do?" He asked, while pinning the laundry up to dry in the chantry courtyard.

"Why do they have a sword and leaf insignia on their armor?" He badgered, poking Ser Ukai in the side when he didn't answer fast enough.

"Do they report to the Divine Mother? Can Brothers become templars?" He wondered, helping to dust the taller shelves in the chantry.

"How do you become a templar? Is there special training?" He asked during a patrol of village perimeter, ignoring Ser Ukai's slightly exasperated sigh.

When he decided he wanted to become a templar instead of a knight of Redcliffe, no one was really surprised.

"I'm gonna become a templar," he informed Ser Ukai one day, without any pretense. "I want to protect mages and people and learn how to help everyone."

"Well, you've already got the warrior part down. But you know," Ser Ukai said gently, "becoming a templar doesn't necessarily mean you'll be at the same Circle as Yamaguchi."

"I know. I don't care," Tsukishima lied. He cared quite a lot. "And that doesn't mean I _won't_ be, either. Besides, I still want to become a templar."

"Hm," Ser Ukai hummed. "Next time the Arl comes down into the village, you tell him you want to become a templar, alright?"

"Okay," Tsukishima shrugged, and didn't think much of it.

…

When Arl Ukai asked him why he wanted to become a templar, Tsukishima gave him the same answer. Instead of mentioning Yamaguchi, however, the Arl simply nodded.

"That makes sense," he said. "Walk with me a bit?"

Tsukishima had agreed, and the Arl wrapped an arm around his shoulders as they walked around the village. Tsukishima had grown even more in the last few years, and now stood at roughly equal height with the Arl – and completely towered over any of the other children in Redcliffe. The Arl confessed that he had known Tsukishima's parents, and even told him who they were, but it didn't change Tsukishima's mind.

"I still want to become a templar," he said resolutely. "And I don't care about who my parents were. Mayor Takeda is the closest I ever got to a father," he said simply, and shrugged his shoulders.

Arl Ukai had just chuckled, and said he'd help get Tsukishima set up with the templars next time they came through.

…

When the templars finally did come near enough to Redcliffe again, Ser Ukai and a few of his knights took Tsukishima to an agreed upon meeting place.

"So, the day's finally come – you're really gonna do it, huh?" Ser Kurokawa, one of the younger knights, asked him.

Tsukishima nodded firmly, and hefted his pack more firmly over his shoulders. He knew the likelihood of seeing Yamaguchi at whichever Circle he ended up at was slim, but… he couldn't deny there was a little part of him that had started to hope. Maybe Ferelden only had a couple of Circles. It was possible. He couldn't bear to quash the little seed of hope back down.

"Look at our little Tsukki! Turning out to be a real proper adult," Ser Tashiro joked, grinning when he reached over to push a hand through Tsukishima's messy blond hair.

"Don't call me Tsukki," he said out of reflex, frowning. He ducked away from Ser Tashiro's long reach, and sped up to walk next to Ser Ukai instead. "How much longer?"

"Should be just by that tall tree, out there," Ser Ukai said, and pointed out a pine tree that looked twice as large as the others around it. "Only take ten more minutes or so to reach it."

…

Introductions and goodbyes were brief, abrupt. Tsukishima was easily accepted into the templars ranks, with talents honed from years of practicing with the knights of Redcliffe, and a strong base of knowledge and belief in the Maker and the chantry.

To be honest, it was as if he had been groomed to be a templar recruit his entire life. He was a perfect fit.

And, at first, all seemed to go well. Tsukishima fell into line with the other templar recruits once they reached the circle, and was a dedicated warrior. Every once in a while he was reprimanded for only putting half his energy into his job, but he still outshone many of the others in terms of skills, so it was more of a formality than anything else.

He strained his eyes every time he interacted with any of the mages around the circle, but never once caught sight of a familiar freckled face. He grew disappointed, but refused to let that stop him, and threw himself into his training instead.

It didn't take long before he was drafted into observing templars performing their duties.

At first, it was mostly just watching as they performed minor responsibilities. Cleansing the magic from the thick air of a training room; keeping watch out in the courtyard during the day, or alongside the walls of the Circle at night; taking new mages, and setting them up with their mentors.

That day, Tsukishima had been paired up with a "mentor" of his own, who had just brought in a little elf girl. Tsukishima never bothered to learn anyone's name – he often got paired up with a different templar every few days, and didn't see the point of learning a new name every week when he was just going to be shunted off to the next area soon enough anyways. And it was no use to learn any of the mages' names, either. They were all just faceless students to him. He only cared about one, and he had yet to see him within the Circle's walls.

"The first thing we have to do is draw some blood for her phylactery," the templar of the day explained, pulling out a pouch of tools from a shelf and setting it down on a table. "It's always the first thing we do here – think of it like a sort of initiation for new mages."

The girl squirmed and whimpered when his mentor pulled out a small, clean blade from the pouch, and directed Tsukishima to hold the glass vial in place.

"Now hold still," he huffed, as he deftly rolled up her sleeve. "This will only hurt for a minute."

It was a bit uncomfortable to watch as the templar made a quick, small slice in the girl's arm. Tsukishima definitely shuddered when he held the vial against her arm to catch the blood. He could feel it's warmth through the glass, as it sluggishly filled the vial, but it didn't take long. Before either of them knew it, it was over, and the templar was wrapping her arm up with a bandage with expert ease.

"There we go, that wasn't so bad, was it?" He consoled, patting the girl's shoulder lightly as he rolled her sleeve back down. "Ah, Henric, yes – please take her to the dorms."

Tsukishima looked up in surprise, not having realized he'd been so engrossed by the process that another templar had entered the room while he hadn't been paying attention. Henric nodded with a smile to the girl, and led her out of the room.

"Now," his mentor said, looking up at Tsukishima, "let's clean off these tools, and I'll show you how to make a proper phylactery."

…

Within the week, Tsukishima had been placed on phylactery vault duties, which mostly involved taking the new phylacteries as they were created, storing them properly in the vaults, and making sure the instruments and vaults themselves were kept clean. Some of the younger templars weren't as thorough about caring for their tools as the older ones were.

It was quiet, even calm most of the time. Tsukishima enjoyed his mornings spent training with the others, and his afternoons spent in the vaults, organizing and cleaning. At least in the vaults, he didn't have to interact with anyone else too much. He wasn't fond of any of the other recruits. Some of them could be crass, and others were rude to the mages. Tsukishima didn't understand why – after all, the templars were there to protect the mages, right? But he never pressed the issue.

The most exciting thing that happened, usually, was when a phylactery was to get re-categorized – sometimes, when a mage was getting ready to go into the Fade for the first time, he was directed to shift their vial into the Tranquil section.

Tsukishima didn't think one section of the vaults was any calmer or quieter than the others, but did as he was told anyways.

…

It was when he had been there for about half a year that he was brought along on his first mission.

He knew that they had the phylacteries for a reason, and that sometimes a templar would request a phylactery for use, but for some reason, he had never connected _what_ it was used for.

Until that day.

"How are the phylacteries used?" He asked bluntly, as was his style. Sometimes it got him into trouble. Other times, the templars appreciated his candor.

"Well, the same blood that is in these vials, runs through the apostate mage's veins. With a little use of templar talents," the templar said with a wink, pulling out one of those now-familiar little blue flasks from his belt and downing it easily. Tsukishima had seen many templars do that, and knew it was lyrium. It was only the templars, though – never the mages, and never the recruits. He figured the lyrium somehow amplified their talents. Something they learned to use after they completed the training, probably. "We can use the blood in the phylactery to track down the runaway mages."

Said phylactery briefly heated up in Tsukishima's hand, and he had to fight the knee-jerk reaction to drop it. The templar grinned at him, and confidently led their small group north, towards the woods.

"I don't get it… why would the mages run away?" Tsukishima asked, his brow furrowed in confusion. All in all, the Circle was pretty nice. The mages seemed content. Sure, sometimes a cocky templar or two would get too full of themselves when a mage didn't do what he wanted immediately, and that made Tsukishima uncomfortable, but it wasn't that bad. After all, the templars were there to protect them.

One of the other templars laughed. "Because they're bloody apostates, that's why! And it's our job to take care of them, before they succumb to an unsavory deal with a demon. Abominations are dangerous things, boy."

Tsukishima didn't comment on being called boy, but listened to his seniors carefully. He didn't even think to realize that "take care of them" meant something entirely different than what he expected, more often than not.

…

That first time, it had only been a little child, a young Anders boy who had someone managed to sneak outside the Circle's limits and flee into the nearby woods. They easily hauled him back, and no one seemed to care that he was sobbing uncontrollably at the thought of returning to the Circle.

Tsukishima held that child's hand, and pulled him along with the others until they were back within the walls of the Circle. He felt like he had a mushroom stuck in his throat the entire way there, and it felt like it only got lodged deeper each time a wail echoed out from the boy's mouth.

When the other templars snapped at the child for crying, and pushed him around just before they reentered the Circle, Tsukishima got his first inkling that something was wrong.

That the Circle was less of a safe haven for mages, and maybe more of a prison.

…

After that, Tsukishima was frequently paired up with an older templar, and was instructed to observe carefully and follow his directions to the letter. His mentor was a bit stiff, and didn't talk much, but Tsukishima didn't mind – he wasn't exactly chatty himself.

Mostly they went out and picked up children who had begun to exhibit signs of magic, and brought them back to the Circle. With each child that had to be torn away from a parent's loving grasp with tear-filled eyes, Tsukishima's mouth went sour. He began to frown more often than not, and didn't ask as many questions – he was simply doing his job. (And he was a little afraid if he opened his mouth, he would either speak out of turn, or throw up the contents of his lunch. He was _not_ fond of helping create phylacteries.)

…

He'd been there a year when he was offered the chance to advance in the ranks – to become a full, bona fide templar. It wasn't "finishing" his training, not exactly – more like beginning it properly, if he accepted.

He did.

He learned more about lyrium, and how the blue liquid the templars took made them able to dispel magic in battle. Apparently it was the same material that mages used in order to replenish their mana, but it was extremely carefully regulated for mages, and they rarely had access to the stores of lyrium. When Tsukishima asked if templars had mana, too, and if they weren't a type of mage themselves if they took lyrium, he was put on backbreaking cleaning duty for a month.

He didn't ask again.

The first time he had been hunting down an apostate, he was in a group of four templars, and it was supposed to be a simple trip. He'd been warned that things might turn ugly, but that he should just follow the lead of his seniors when in doubt.

Tsukishima had by far proved himself the best of the recruits when it came to sword and shield tactics. He knew he could hold his own.

But when they found the apostate, he had been consumed by rage, and had made a deal with a demon.

Tsukishima had heard stories about abominations, had heard their name tossed around in hushed tones, and knew they were dangerous, but it was nothing like seeing the real thing.

Everything happened so fast, Tsukishima only registered the fight in sensations.

A tingling across his skin as one of the experienced templars cleansed the area of magic.

A bright flash as another locked the abomination within a ward.

A ringing in his ears as he was shouted to raise his shield, and then a hot burning sensation against his shield arm when the abomination exploded in a fiery blast.

The entire time his arm was being treated with a salve, afterward, his mind had reeled.

That _thing_ was an abomination.

Why had it exploded? To take as many templars with it as it could?

Or rather, not it… but he. That had been an apostate, a runaway mage.

So consumed by rage, he had turned into… _that_.

He had always been told that mages who ran free were dangerous, but it had never quite sunken in _how_ dangerous.

He thought that maybe, for the first time, he could understand why the Rite of Tranquility was used before certain mages went into the Fade for the first time.

…

The next time he observed the Rite of Tranquility, he looked at it a little differently. Perhaps it wasn't just a vicious process to calm the most ornery of mages. If it could stop someone from becoming an abomination, from what he'd seen, it was worth it.

The Tranquil still unnerved him. It was the worst when it was a mage he had talked to before the rite, and then ran into again after the fact. They were always so different. It was uncomfortable (but only for him, of course; the Tranquil never seemed to mind it).

He tried even harder not to look at the mages as individuals. He resolved to never learn another mage's name. Just in case.

When he went down to the vaults to request the mage's phylactery be moved, he thought he saw a familiar name out of the corner of his eye.

He had rushed toward the shelf, hungrily searching for the name, he couldn't help the disappointment he felt when he saw it.

_Takashi Yamamoto._

He didn't know how long he stood there, gaze glued on the label, until a voice startled him.

"Oh. You're still here. Was there something else you needed, Tsukishima?"

Tsukishima turned slowly, and kept his face carefully blank. "No. That was all."

As he climbed the stairs back up to the main floor of the Circle, his mind refused to stop whirring angrily.

What, did he think it would be that easy? Just find Yamaguchi's phylactery, in the same Circle?

It wouldn't even have made sense to find it there, not after so many years had passed. As far as Tsukishima knew, mages didn't exactly cycle between Circles.

And what did he think he was going to do with it? _Use_ it?

Tsukishima shook his head roughly at the very thought.

He wasn't like those other templars, corrupted by power and too big for their own boots.

Even if templars weren't all the protective heroes he'd thought they were, Tsukishima wouldn't let that stop him. He was going to be a good templar. Even if all the others were shit.

And he wasn't going to abuse his power to track Yamaguchi down like a runaway apostate, an abomination that needed to be stopped, he wouldn't use Yamaguchi's own blood to betray him.

He wouldn't violate every templar policy he'd been taught to find his friend… no matter how much he desperately wanted to.

…

From there on out, Tsukishima started to find he had less patience with everyone around him.

Not that he had had much to begin with.

Less patience for the cocky templar recruits, who didn't know what it was like to fight monsters who used to be human.

Less patience for the loud mage children, who were always crying at one thing or another (snapping at them didn't help, he found).

Less patience for the adult mages, who feared them, and sometimes flinched at their presence.

Less patience for the families of mages, who both feared and hated the templars, sometimes even spitting at them in an act of bravery as they took a child, brother, sister, cousin, or friend away.

Less patience, even, for the slow and gentle tones of the First Enchanter, who had been nothing but kind to him.

And, most of all, less patience for the fact that he had been at the Circle for three years now, and he had _yet_ to even hear of a freckled mage named Yamaguchi. He had been advised to not let his hopes up at all, and now they had finally started to wear down.

…

Though he never quite applied himself to his tasks, Tsukishima still managed to ascend the ranks as an excellent templar. He was recognized for his talents and his ability to think in the heat of battle.

He still hadn't seen any sign of Yamaguchi, and had finally come to grips with the fact that the likelihood of him running into his childhood friend, at this rate, was zip to zilch. Emphasis on the zilch. He refused to let himself wonder if Yamaguchi was even alive anymore – or, perhaps worse, if he had been made Tranquil before his Harrowing, like so many of the other young mages.

Instead, he threw himself into his work and his duties.

Though none of the other templars liked him, he'd earned their begrudging respect. Tsukishima was harsh, and blunt, and sometimes even cruel in what he said to others, but when he went out on an apostate hunt, he returned with every single one of the templars he brought with him. And, most of the time, the apostate, too.

Tsukishima knew the whispers that followed him when he walked down the hallway toward the Commander's office. He saw the flinches out of the corner of his eye.

He simply didn't care anymore.

He knocked soundly at the door, and waited.

"Tsukishima. Yes, come in."

Tsukishima entered the room, and closed the door behind him. He stood at attention in front of his commander, and awaited his orders.

"Recently, it has come to the Divine's attention, that a blood mage apostate has joined the ranks of the Grey Wardens. Though this is highly unorthodox, the King will not allow us to take action," the Commander's face twisted in a grimace. "As a compromise, the Divine is sending a templar to join the Grey Wardens," he looked up at Tsukishima, finally meeting his gaze. "We'd like that templar to be you."

…

Tsukishima Kei is a templar. And some small part of his heart holds out hope that, while with the Grey Wardens, he might find his best friend, or at least find out what's become of him. But, mostly, he just hopes he'll be able to continue being one of the "good" templars.

And if he ends up helping save the world while he's at it… well, he guesses that's alright. If he must.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry about the delay - final projects are coming up, and research papers kill the man, heh.
> 
> Please leave kudos & comments if you enjoyed it! I love reading what you guys have to say. 
> 
> You can find me over at tumblr as cloudmonstachopper, and I keep track of the tag "vball babs origins" for this series. Feel free to drop by and say hi! Next update will be ch3 in Dawn Will Come... the battle awaits us!


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